


With Her Whisper

by AquosEvolved



Series: Unwearied Heart [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Hoshido | Birthright Route, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AquosEvolved/pseuds/AquosEvolved
Summary: Azura wakes up, weak and delirious. She can tell that something big has happened. The only question is what.[Day Two - Still]
Relationships: Aqua | Azura/My Unit | Kamui | Corrin
Series: Unwearied Heart [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1982824
Kudos: 6





	With Her Whisper

Consciousness came to Azura slowly. She was completely and utterly exhausted. It was probably the most tired she’d ever been in her life. She felt too drained to even open her eyes, let alone move or speak. 

Azura’s senses slowly trickled in. Her chest felt tight, and her entire body ached. It took all her strength, but she managed to crack her golden eyes open only to immediately squeeze them shut again.  _ Too bright.  _ So, she simply laid there.

As she adjusted to the all-encompassing pain and soreness, more sensations came to her. Her left leg was at an odd angle - propped up. Then, a very gentle feeling finally found its way to her. Someone was holding her hand.

All at once, the fog of sleep lifted and the realization hit her;  _ she was alive. _ Azura opened her eyes again - while it still took a great effort, it was much easier than before - and threw her gaze to her right. Out of the corner of her eye, a head of silver hair poked into her vision. She squeezed his hand with what little strength she had and rolled her head to the side just in time to watch Corrin’s eyes fling open.

“A-Azura..?” He called out to her softly, tentatively. “Azura, can you hear me?” His voice rose and she could tell just how frail it was. Tears began to slip from the corners of his eyes.

The songstress tried to reply, but all that came out was a single syllable; scratchy, high-pitched, and barely audible. “A…”   
  
Corrin’s lips pulled wide into that boyish grin that she loved so very much. “You came back to me.” He sounded like he was ready to break down sobbing. Tears freely streaked down his cheeks. “Finally…you’ve come back to me.”

“I’m...here…” She managed. Her words felt like a storm of needles in her throat.

“Azura…” Corrin’s grip on her hand tightened and his other hand joined. “I thought I’d lost you…” He pulled her hand closer to him.

The sight of her love crying made Azura’s heart pang in guilt. But, as she so often did, she quickly got to deflecting her attention away from her own feelings.  _ Dry your tears, my sweet prince. _ She thought. She tried to say it as well, but all that came out were more pitchy sounds. She squeezed her eyes shut and tightly gripped Corrin’s hand as pain raked through her throat.

“What’s wrong?! Are you okay? Can you breathe?” Corrin’s choked relief quickly turned to panic. Azura hurriedly nodded in response.

“F…fi..ne…” Talking was extraordinarily painful, but she pushed through. For Corrin’s sake. “Pro...mise…” The moment that word left her lips, she instantly regretted it. What right did she have to use it, knowing what was to come?

“And you always keep your promises.” Corrin removed one of his hands from hers to wipe his tears. 

“Hnn?” Azura uttered thinly.

“Tell me, what do you remember?” He asks gently.

Azura closed her eyes and scoured her thoughts. Elise had led them through a series of secret passages to help them infiltrate Castle Krakenburg. From there, every single member of Corrin’s relatively small army spent the rest of the day fighting for their lives, until -

“Throne...room…” Azura rasped.

Corrin nodded. “Right...You sang your heart out to help us defeat Garon. When it was all over, you collapsed...You asked me to smile for you one last time, and then…” Tears spilled forth anew. “I thought you’d broken your promise…”

Azura was hit with the realization that she was alive for the second time, but only then did it stick. Not only was she alive, she had lived through what was supposed to have been her death. She remembered how the pendant’s magic burned in her veins and her throat as she sang. She remembered the grief written all over Corrin’s face as he struggled to fulfill what she had thought to be her last request.

Lying on the floor next to her futon, he looked even worse for wear than he did then...not to mention his hair reached further down his face than she remembered. “How...long…?” She asked.

A number of expressions played across Corrin’s face in rapid succession. Each passed too quickly to be identifiable - at least not with her fatigue-addled mind. Finally, he settled on something that looked tired in every sense of the word; not just physically, but also emotionally.

“After you passed out in the throne room, we got you back to Hoshido as fast as we could. But, when you showed no signs of waking up…” The silver-haired man choked on his words and finally broke down into the sobs he’d so obviously been fighting against.

“I’m…” Azura paused to wheeze; the pendant must have damaged her voice. “...here…”

“You…” Corrin choked again, but then he visibly swallowed before he gave her his best smile. “You are. Just like you promised.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her hair. He lingered and she could easily feel how he quivered against her. The fact that he left her question unanswered didn't go unnoticed.

"How...long..?" Azura repeated.

Corrin stilled - rigidly so. He muttered something against her scalp much too quietly for her to hear. She let out a curious hum and brushed against him.

"I said 'three weeks.'" 

Had she the energy, Azura would have gone wide-eyed in shock. A million and one questions buzzed through her mind, but she couldn't voice a single one of them. Partly due to the pain in her throat, of course, but she was so exhausted that she wouldn't have been able to find the words even if she could speak.

Several tense seconds passed but Corrin soon melted against her. "Welcome back." He murmured. His words hardly registered.


End file.
